Mystery firm claims to be on verge of 1MW battery breakthrough

An unnamed firm is just six months away from debuting a new battery technology capable of storing up to one megawatt of power, according to the investors behind the project.

Switzerland-based private equity fund Micro Finance Investment AG announced yesterday that it plans to present a new lithium polymer cell 1MW battery system early next year alongside the unnamed firm that has been developing the technology.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Micro Finance chief financial officer Andreas Stamatiou refused to name the company that has developed the technology, revealing only that it is a "world-renowned" firm.

"We have been investing in the development of this technology for four years and it is now ready for production," he said. "We are targeting the smart grid and energy infrastructure market, as well the market for onsite back-up power."

The new battery technology, which Stamatiou said included accompanying IT and management systems, is also likely to appeal to wind and solar energy developers looking for a means to minimise the impact of intermittent energy output.

"A battery of this scale is perfectly suited for renewable energy such as wind farms and the proposed Destertec project to build solar farms in North Africa," said Stamatiou.

A number of research projects globally have already developed megawatt-scale battery technologies, but adoption has been hampered by the high cost of such systems.

Stamatiou said Micro Finance was confident the new technology would prove " commercially viable", insisting the company behind the system was currently in talks with potential manufacturing partners that could begin delivering the technology on commercial scale within two years.

"We are able to produce a small number of batteries now and will be able to deliver the first models within eight months," he said. "Building a factory will take 18 months so we would look to have the system available at scale within two years. The potential market for this technology is huge and in the next five years we could build a billion-euro company."